In oven-cooking large meat pieces the cooking juices, in the form of molten fat, produced by the meat pieces or possibly added, are cyclically spread over the entire surface of the meat in order to improve its aroma and taste and to facilitate the formation of a golden crust.
Said requirement arises mainly in the oven-cooking of poultry and In particular turkey.
These animals are generally inserted onto the oven supported by a basket resting on a cooking pan.
They present a large quantity of fatty parts which during oven-cooking melt to collect on the base of the cooking pan.
As the fats represent the most important taste and aroma vehicle it is advisable, during the oven-cooking of such animals and of large meat pieces in general, to occasionally collect the dissolved fats which fall onto the base of the cooking pan and to spread them over the upper surface of the meat.
This operation is extremely disagreeable because of the high temperature at which the cooking takes place, of the order of 180xc2x0 C., and of the large dimensions of the piece of meat, such as a turkey, undergoing cooking.
In this respect, the oven has to be opened, the pan containing the meat or turkey has to be at least partly extracted, the juices have to be collected with a manually operated suction pump or a small ladle or a brush for their distribution over the meat, the pan has to be returned to its position and the oven closed.
Apart from the undesirable temperature change caused by opening the oven, which sometimes compromises proper cooking, all the listed operations are not only disagreeable and liable to result in bums, but also keep the cook engaged for the entire cooking time. Devices are known for facilitating the said fat distribution over the meat surface, these being generally similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 2 560,605 in the name of Shell.
Said known devices comprise a dish-shaped perforated dome formed of sheet metal or the like. The dome has a number of perforations provided therein at a marginal edge thereof and the uppermost portion of the dome has a boss surrounding a hole in which a hollow tube is received.
This tube extends upwardly or outwardly from the dome and is substantially vertical when the device is in use.
An expelling spout formed of tubular stock is in telescoping engagement with the tube. The expelling spout is manually adjusted on a desired position with respect to the outermost end thereof. The upper portion of the expelling spout is arched and presents a short portion that is disposed radially to overly the piece of meat to be cooked. This arched portion terminates in the open outlet end of the spout and when the food is being prepared this portion of spout will effectively direct the juices onto the top of any food that is being prepared.
Known devices present the drawback of a difficult and insufficient rise of the molten fat and of the juices along the curved tube, and extremely irregular and unpredictable operation.
The object of this invention is to provide a device which makes said operations completely automatic, so overcoming the drawbacks of the known art.
In a totally general manner said object is attained by a device comprising a meat cooking tray in which the juices are collected, a hole in said tray to cause the juices to pour into an underlying first container sealedly closed by a mushroom float, a second container containing water and connected to said first container, and a tube extending from the base of said first container and opening above the meat contained in the tray.
The hole in said first container is preferably surrounded by a funnel. Preferably said object is attained by a device in which the cooking pan comprises a tray having a flat base and, in the base, a sunken portion partially occupying said base. A container loosely occupies said sunken portion, a portion of said container being defined by a wall comprising an upper reservoir presenting in its base a hole closable from below by a valving float, and a hole communicating with the adjacent chamber external to the wall.
The reservoir is preferably formed in a cover which upperly closes the sunken portion in a sealed manner, a tube starting from close to the base of said closed portion and extending as far as the meat to be cooked.